Jbichard



E 0. & J. E. RICHARD.

(No Model.)

VELOOIPEDE.

Patented Jan. 1'7, 1 882.

By his- Attorneys,

I H W INVENTQRS I E Ii i WITNESSES:

m wuho a mr. Washington. a c

UNITED STATES PATENT, @Frrcn.

EDMOND 0.1tlQHARD AND JEAN E....RIGHARD, OF NE\V YORK, N. Y.

VE'LOCIPEDEL SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 252,329, dated January 1'17, 1882,

Application filed October 22, 1880. (No model.) Y

.Velocipedes, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates in part to certain .im-,

provements in the multiplying-gearing of hicycles and velocipedes, and in part to'the steering mechanism of the same, all of which will be fully hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the present mode of gearing bicycles, whereby one I'tWOltililOll of the cranks will produce more than one revolution of the drivingwheel, alargeinternal-gear' wheel has been einployed, to which thecrank is attached, and iiiside of this large wheel a pinion has been mounted on the driving-wheel axle and arranged to mesh with the larger gear-wheel; but in all cases, so far as we are aware, the larger wheelhas been mounted on a central arbor, pin, or axis, which restricts the size of the pinion to somewhat less than one-half that of the larger wheel. This construction multiplies too ,much for ordinary riders, and it is desirable that the pinion shall ordinarily be more than one-half the size of the larger wheel. This we accomplish by so mounting the larger gearwheel that the central arbor is dispensed with, and thus the whole space within the wheel is left free for a pinion of any size that may be made to mesh with the larger gear-wheel. We are thus enabled to speed up the driving-wheel in any ratio desired, all as will be more fully hereinafter set forth.

In the drawings which serve to illustrate our invention, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a bicycle provided with ourim'provennen ts, drawn to a small scale. Fig. 2 is a side View detached, showing the gearing. Fig. 3 is a vertical midsection taken in the plane of the line 3 3 in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detached view, enlarged, taken in the plane of the line 4 4 in Fig. 1,and looking upward.

Let A represent the ordinary frame of a bicycle; B,the riders-seat,mounted thereon; G, the hind wheel;D,thedrivingorsteering wheel,

and E the fork or swiveled frame in which the,

driving-wheel is mounted. These features are, in general, of the ordinary construction. The lower extremities of the branches of the fork E are secured to casings F, beingpreferably socketed in the same at at. As the casings and their incl'osed mechanisms are alike on both sides of the driving-wheel, we have only shown that on one side, which will now be described.

The axle a of the driving-wheel has a hearing in the casing F, and bears a pinion, b, on its outer end and within the hollow of said casing. This pinion meshes with a larger internal-gear Wheel 0, which is affixed to the crankshaft (1, or forms one with the same. This shaft has bearings in the cap 0 of the casing F, and bearing-rollsff, mounted in the casing, bear upon the periphery of the gear-wheel c,as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2. WVe prefer also'to surround the shaft d with anti-friction rolls g in its hearings in the cap, as shown in Fig. 3. G is a crank of the ordinary or of any good kind, secured to the outer extremity of the shaft D. By this construction and arrangement of the two geamvhecls B and c we are enabled,as will be well understood, to employ a pinion, b, of any desired size less than the wheel c-aresult that cannot be attained by the ordinary construction, where the larger gearwheel is mounted on an axis or shaft which ex-' tends across the space occupied by the pinion.

' We will now describe the improvements relating to the steering mechanism,whereby the operation of steering the bicycle is rendered less laborious than when the ordinary steering mechanism is employed.

Inbicycles and velocipedes as ordinarily constructed the driving and steering wheel D turns from side to side so readily as to requireastron g muscular effort on the part of the rider to hold the wheel steady, especially when it strikes small obstructions. Indeed,it often happens that the wheel will turn and throw the rider before it can be under control by means of the steering-handle, and this tendency to turn from side to side is aggravated by the alternate side pressure exerted in the cranks. To obviate these difficulties and steady the wheel in its normal position, or in that position in which it stands when moving straight ahead, we provide the following-described mechanism:

A leaf-spring, h, passes through a slot in the fork E, just above the crown of the drivingwheel, and its ends rest in notches formed in lugs or projections h on the fi ame A. With this construction it is obvious that any attempt to turn the axis of the fork in its socket e in either direction will be resisted by the spring h, and that the spring tends to return the said axis to its normal position and right the driving-Wheel. In Fig. 2 the full lines show the axis forcib1yturned,while the dotted lines show the parts in their normal position.

We are aware that springs have been heretofore employed to press the driving-wheel ot a velocipede back to its normal position when turned to either side; but they have been in the form of spiral springs engaging opposite sides .of an arm projecting from the spindle of the of the cross-handle spindle are formed or fixed links, rods, or tiesjextend back and are coupled to similar lugs or arms, It, on the fork E. We employ a pair of these links by preference; but one rigid link would suffice. By means ot'this arrangement the rideris enabled to rotate the fork E with much greater freedom and power than if the handle H were fixed on the axle of the fork itself.

The lugsi and might be ofdift'erentlengths, if desired, so as to increase or decrease the leverage in the steering; but we prefer ordinarily to make them of the same length.

We are aware that the cross-handle has been carried forward andaffixed rigidly to a radial arm extending forward from thetop of the forkspindles, whereby it has been somewhat removed from the body of the rider; but as the axis on which it turned was near his body, there 'was no material mechanical advantage gained by its change ot'position. Y

Having thus described our invention, we clairn e 1. The combinatiomto form a multiplying mechanism for a bicycle or velocipede,ofa casing for the gearing secured to the lower extremity of the fork, the axle of the drivingwheel, provided with a bearing in'said casing, a pinion mounted on the end of said axle within said casing, an internal-gear wheel mounted in said casing and arranged to mesh with the pinion on the driving-wheel axle, said gearwheel having an external bearing only,whereby the cavity occupied by the pinion is left unobstructed, and a crank on the projecting axis of the said internal-gear wheel, all arranged substantially as and for the purposes set forth. 2. The combination, to form a multiplying mechanism for a bicycle or velocipede, ot' the fork E, easing F, driving-axle a, pinion b on the said axle, the gear-wheel 0, having an external side bearing in the case 0 of the casin g, the bearing-rollsf, shaft or axis at, and crank G, all arranged to operate substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. In a bicycle or velocipede, the combination, with the frame, the steering or driving wheel, and the fork swiveled in said frame, of-

EDMOND'O. RICHARD. JEAN E. RICHARD.

, Witnesses:

HENRY OoNNE'r'r, Grno. BAIN'ION. 

